


I is for Imposter

by fiery_day



Series: Alphabet One Shots [2]
Category: Batman - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Business Deals, Dick Grayson as Red Hood, Gen, Impersonation, Owing Favors, POV Original Character, POV Outsider, probably some blackmail happened also
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-22
Updated: 2019-02-22
Packaged: 2019-11-02 00:32:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,546
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17877740
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fiery_day/pseuds/fiery_day
Summary: Another one-shot for my Alphabet series.Dick somehow owes Jason a favor. Dick is not amused by how he must pay it.There is NO smut, get your minds out of the gutter.





	I is for Imposter

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own these characters. All characters belong to their respective owners.
> 
> I don't care about canon.

Zane Rogers had been working for the Red Hood since he had come to Gotham. He was one of three men who worked directly under Red Hood, and was in charge of planning and resource distribution and management. Zane met with Boss at least once or twice a week to get orders and report the state of the business. It was always a fairly short meeting as Boss made certain that his men were competent, even those on the bottom of the ladder. 

Zane had probably worked with Red Hood the longest out of any other members in Boss’s crew. The previous financial head had tried to embezzle money from the gang and had promptly ended up with a bullet in the head, shot execution style. This longevity enabled Zane to say that he knew some of the personal tics Red Hood had. Such as the fact that he never went anywhere without at least two guns and three knives. Boss hated wines except for dry reds. On days when he was most anxious, he smoked at least half a pack of cigarettes. 

All of these things led Zane to the conclusion that the man in front of him right now was not Red Hood. The person in front of him was just and inch or two shy of reaching the six foot three height of the infamous crime lord. The imposter was also not as solidly built. Sure, they had some impressive muscle, but Boss could give Batman a run for his money on muscle mass. A couple other things gave it away, like the fact that the helmet was too long, Boss’s favorite knife was missing, and the slightly smaller boot size. This person could pass as the crime lord to the newbies and people who didn’t interact with him, but Zane could spot this fake from a mile away. 

But the boss had mentioned that he was to ignore any discrepancies tonight. Including the fact that it may not be Boss under the red helmet. There was an important deal that was going down tonight, but as far as Zane knew the real Red Hood was out of the country. Boss must have arranged something with this fake in order to have the deal go through. This just left the question of who was under the mask.

The car that Zane and the imposter were in pulled up to the abandoned warehouse on neutral ground that they were using to conduct the meeting. The whole ride over had been filled with a tense silence. The imposter held himself rigid in his seat, obviously uncomfortable. Joe Garr, the head of security, and his team had already been on location for two hours to sweep and secure the area. Joe jogged to meet them as they stepped out of the car. Based on his raised eyebrows, he also noticed that this Red Hood was an imposter. 

“My men and I haven’t found anything to be concerned about. We scared away a couple of homeless that were loitering around but there haven’t been any signs of Bats, psychos, or any other gang,” Joe reported.

“Good. Let’s go inside,” the imposter stated striding past and into the warehouse. Apparently, this Red Hood was more talkative. The real Red Hood would have just nodded or grunted before going inside, leaving them to follow after. At least the voice modulator made sure the voice would be the same, but there seemed to be some level of weariness that slipped through anyways.

Inside the warehouse there was a single table with two chairs on either side. The imposter was sat stiffly in one of the chairs and looking at a tablet one of the members had given. The men had already noticed something off and were looking at each other a little leery. It was going to be a hell of a night if they gave something away to the rival gang members. Tonight, was about negotiating territory which at the best of times could be difficult. If the Falcones noticed the tense atmosphere, it would be even harder to come to a compromise on the boundaries.

“I know that you know, but don’t give it away. This will be hard enough without making the Falcones suspicious,” the imposter stated not even looking up from the tablet. Zane saw several of the men try and relax. Zane just prayed it wouldn’t break out into a fight because he didn’t trust the imposter to be able to protect himself.

  


Zane thanked whichever deities were watching over them tonight because they somehow got through the deal without a fight breaking out. It was a near thing a couple of times, but the imposter was good with his words and was able to calm the Falcone head down. When the Falcone head had asked that the imposter remove his helmet, Zane almost had a heart attack. He exchanged tense glances with Joe before the imposter lifted his helmet. 

Wherever Boss found this fake, he obviously made sure he looked a little like the boss. The imposter had on the boss’s customary domino mask underneath. He also had Boss’s dark hair, but the face was a bit more heart-shaped and had a sharper jaw line. Boss had a squarer face and jaw line. The Falcones, however, didn’t notice anything suspicious, so the talks continued.

After the Falcones left, Zane rode in the car with the imposter back to HQ. He was pleased with how well the talks had gone. They had come out with a better deal than the Falcones, so hopefully Boss would be happy. This deal had been nearly six months in the making. It would have been two months ago if talks hadn’t broken down. It had been a very bloody couple of weeks before talks started up again. With the Falcones off their backs, the gang would be able to spend less time controlling their borders.

The car pulled into HQ and the imposter quickly walked into the main entrance and up to Boss’s office. Everyone turned to stare at the imposter because no one went into Boss’s office without permission and never without Boss being present. Even if someone wanted to break into the office, there was a key combination, password, and handprint scan. On top of that, there was rumor to be some type of booby trap that only Boss knew about. No way was the imposter getting into that office, not unless Boss was already in there.

To all the men’s amazement, the imposter somehow got past it all. Zane could hardly believe his eyes as the imposter merely turned the door knob and walked in. The newbies looked surprise, but it was the people that had worked for Boss for a while that stared at each other dumbfounded. 

Zane was just about to head upstairs to make sure the imposter didn’t mess with or steal anything when he heard the sound of a familiar motorcycle. It sounded like the type Boss liked to use because it was just the right amount of stealth and badass. Because he could hear it that meant Boss was right outside the building. Again, thanking whichever deities were kind enough to give such blessings, Zane turned to see Red Hood, the real one this time.

“Boss! The deal went well. Hopefully your other business had a just as good conclusion,” Zane greeted the boss. “The man you got to play yourself tonight is up in your office. He was somehow able to get pass the security systems you have. Would you like me to get him?” gesturing upstairs.

“No, I’ll go see him myself,” Boss said starting towards the staircase.

“No need, Hood. I’m just leaving. Please, refrain from asking anymore favors of me for at least a month. I do not appreciate being your stand in,” a tight voice drifted from upstairs.

Zane looked up to see Nightwing at the top of the steps. The vigilante was tense with every muscle coiled and loosening in patterns as if he was trying to calm himself. That was not a good look to find on a person that was more than predisposed to kick his ass. Zane just wondered to himself how the boss gained such a favor from the vigilante and why he thought it was a good idea to have him impersonate Red Hood.

“I thought it was an older brother’s prerogative to help out when a younger sibling is in need,” Boss said, sarcasm evident even through the voice modulator. Zane about pissed himself from the unexpected information. He did not want a visit from a certain Bat because of knowing too much.

“That does not mean I have to like being a part of criminal activity. Next time you find yourself needing to be two places at once, plan ahead better or call someone else,” Nightwing growled pushing pass Boss and heading toward the exit.

“Oh,” Nightwing turned around, “I’ve already sent Agent A pictures of what you keep in the false bottom of the last draw, Hood. May God have mercy on your soul.” With that last—confusing—parting shot, Nightwing left.

The silence that filled the void was disrupted by Boss’s groan and a muttered, “Shit.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading. I obviously have no idea how organized crime works, so it kind of skips that. I also didn't want to write a boring business deal so I skipped that. Oh well, it probably wouldn't have been that fun to read anyways.
> 
> If you saw any errors, please let me know. And constructive criticism is always welcome.
> 
> PS What do you think Jason keeps in that drawer? I just made up the line so I don't actually have an idea of what it could be.
> 
> Edited 24 September 2019. Minor spelling and grammar fixes.


End file.
